Yoshihiro Takayama

Yoshihiro Takayama (高山 善廣, Takayama Yoshihiro, born September 19, 1966) is a former Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Debuting for UWF International (UWFI) in the 1990s, Takayama joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) in 1997 after UWF-i folded. In 2000, he joined Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), and later became a mainstay in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where he arguably achieved his greatest success, holding the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and NWF Heavyweight Championship simultaneously in 2003. He is one of only four men to hold all three puroresu major heavyweight titles (New Japan Pro-Wrestling's IWGP Heavyweight Championship, All Japan Pro Wrestling's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, and Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC Heavyweight Championship), the others being Kensuke Sasaki, Keiji Muto, and Satoshi Kojima. Takayama first became known for his toughness after h...